Batman: Dark Protector, Act 2
by Topaz Ingenious
Summary: Following the events of Batman’s newfound crusade, a new evil emerged from the shadows, and put an end to his heroics. Now, Bane threatens the safety of Gotham, and the Batfamily and Gordon must fight to stop him, without Batman. But will they succeed?
1. Chapter One

**_Moments later..._**

Bane returns to one of his bases with an army of his men standing in formation, and the giant stands above them on a platform like a military officer. Barely a scratch on him from his brawl with Batman. Though he is sporting a new mask. "The Batman is dead." Bane starts off. Feeling cocky, but he's hiding it well. Still as stoic and menacing as ever. "Now, begins phase three of the plan!"

Bane walks back and forth across the platform as he delivers his orders. "First: Team A will plant explosives around the exits of every Hospital, Firehouse, Police Precinct; any municipal building, and bar them inside while the city falls to ruin. Next, blow up the bridges so no one can escape."

The army of men are separated into groups, but Team C is the most heavily armed with the best gear. "Team B will move into Penguin's headquarters, kill him and his men. But do not kill the ones out on the streets, yet."

Bane stops and points to Team C. "Team C will infiltrate Arkham Asylum, break out every inmate, and kill the guards. And tell Killer Croc he is free to play."

Bane may seem cocky, but he is smart enough to be focused and not get ahead of himself. Then, he delivers the final plan with a sense of pride, but holds a sense of something sinister. "Team D! You will plant explosives around the gas factories, and when the time is right, when the world has seen a city fallen into ruin, we will destroy Gotham City."

Instead of falling to their knees in horror, everyone shouts, "Sir! Yes sir!"

"You all have your part to play. With Batman dead, there will be no one to stop you."

And then, he sends them off as Team A goes to their designated targets, and the rest patrol the city. And the city is oblivious to the passing of their savior, or in most cases, some are unaware of the outside world. Still barring themselves inside their homes.

Meanwhile, at the Batcave, Alfred was resting as the serum was kicking in. The same one Alfred used on Bruce. He had to use a smaller dose, of course. Alfred wakes up to a loud beeping noise once the effects of the serum had worn off. His half-asleep body starts coming to, lazily remembering where it is. Alfred rubs away the crust in his eyes, yawning as his throat feels dry and his body weak. He slowly starts to sit up and is alarmed by the incessant beeping. He turns to the Batcomputer, his vision still blurry. Then his mind kicks into gear. The beeping is a warning signal in case someone was in danger, or dead.

Alfred shoots straight up, albeit at his own elderly pace. He walks towards the Batcomputer, praying that it isn't who he thinks it is. And it is. His heart is about to give in again as he sees the tracker on the map belonging to Batman. Buried under six feet of rubble. An X-ray image of his body shows critical damage to his spine and his body. Alfred turns off the beeper and doesn't know what to do with himself or with Bruce. He stands there, frozen. Worried. Not even a body to bury, he thinks. A tear falls onto the dashboard, and another. Dick is gone. Barbara is gone. Then his mind goes back to Jason. He stops sobbing for a moment as he collects himself. "Jason." He whispers to himself. He tries to contact Jason, but he doesn't answer. Leaving Alfred with very little options.

He then accesses the computer to locate Jason on a map. He's still in Gotham City. And his X-ray shows little to no bodily harm. Last time he saw him he was in critical condition. Jason finally answers his call from Alfred, still having a bit of a soft spot to the esteemed butler. "Hello?"

"Batman's dead." Alfred's voice cracks.

Jason shoots up from his bed. He's using someone's abandoned house with pistols. Fashioned with a new look he took from the soldiers outside. Fitted with a hood. Not quite a helmet yet. He chuckles at the idea of Batman's passing. "Good," Jason barks back.

Alfred is taken aback by this. "Is your hatred so deep you would revel in this tragedy?" Alfred's voice emotional.

Jason shakes his head in disapproval. "You wouldn't understand."

"Master Todd, please, find Bruce's body!"

He finally hangs up, only waiting so long to hang up for Alfred's sake. Alfred is now left with nothing. He falls to his knees as he hangs his head in shame. Blaming himself for allowing things to get out of hand. Allowing Bruce to lose himself in this life. "I failed you." He mutters as he starts to break down. "I failed you.." he whispers quieter as his voice gets weaker, and his eyes start to water. "I'm sorry.."


	2. Chapter Two

Selina has decided it's too dangerous to leave the Manor, and has stayed there ever since. Shrouded in dimly lit rooms and a clear view of the moon in almost every one. She sits alone in Bruce's bedroom, staring out into the night. Feeling an unusual chill permeate the room through the opened doors. She rests on Bruce's side of the bed, feeling something different in the air. No matter how many covers she puts on her slender body, she can still feel that chill. Maybe it's sleeping on the other side of the bed, or she could just be imagining things. But she can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Even still, she rests on the bed, feeling the comfort of the mattress, and she hears footsteps nearby, shuffling about like someone is carrying something heavy. She sits up from her bed and decides to walk out to a hallway and sees Alfred carrying an oil canister. "Alfred?" Selina asks.

Alfred stops as he turn around and sets the canister aside. His eyes show a sign of defeat, only noticeable by the candles strewn about the hallway. "What are you doing?" She inquires, almost knowing what the answer is. "There's nothing here for me." Alfred replies, somberly.

Selina walks up a little closer, feeling sorry. "What'd you mean?"

Alfred takes a moment to answer as he contemplates his answer. "Bruce," His voice unsteady. "He's dead."

Selina feels like she's been punched in the gut. Her eyes widen. "Dead?" She mumbles. Her voice not quite portraying how this is affecting her.

Alfred doesn't say anything back as he hangs his head in shame, then looking out into another room as he sees the moonlight fall onto him. Almost looking for another way. "How?" Her voice cracks. She almost feels a lump form in her throat, but she's always told herself to stay strong.

Alfred looks up at Selina now and answers. "Bane."

Selina feels her legs weakening beneath her, but she still stands strong. Her mind flooding with so many thoughts all at once. She looks at the ground, seeing the moonlight in the oil Alfred has poured down. "What're you doing?" She asks.

"Burning the mansion down." He answers, broken.

Selina feels a rush of dread surge through her. Feeling guilty. "This is my fault." She blurts out.

"No," Alfred responds. "It's mine. I let Bruce go on his charade and he lost his way."

Selina shuts her eyes, hoping for this to end. But it never does. "But I feel like he went out and died," Selina starts, stopping herself midway as she collects herself. "Because I,"

She can't finish but Alfred walks up to her and tries to comfort her. "No. It's my fault." Alfred retorts. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Alfred goes back to his oil canister and starts pouring it out over the floor as Selina watches a broken man attempt to burn down his mansion. But there's nothing she can really do. "Where are you going to go after this?" Selina asks.

Alfred stops as he turns and answers. "I don't know."

He then proceeds to keep pouring the oil, and then Selina decides to pack her things and leave. On her way out, she gives one last look, and exits the building. She gets into her car with a disguise, and makes her way to her apartment. And when she gets to the city, she notices a lot has changed. Convoys. AA defenses. Armored soldiers patrolling the streets. Standing guard around street corners.

She's stopped by a group of soldiers who want to ask for her to turn around, but Selina insists she needs to get to her apartment and take care of some things. They notice it's Selina, but they have their orders to not kill people just yet. She makes her way to her apartment and she gets her stuff, changes into her outfit, and walks up to her rooftop, looking around her as she plans out her move. She puts her goggles on and clenches her fists, turning her grief into anger as she thinks of Bruce. _This is going to be for you, Bruce._


	3. Chapter Three

Selina wanders around on rooftops, looking for a target to pounce on. And staying above ground to avoid the convoy patrols. Second guessing herself about this whole thing, especially when she hasn't the slightest idea about what these soldiers are capable of. But she feels the need to sharpen her claws.

Fitted with an almost advanced suit, thanks to Bruce. She has detective vision cat goggles, steel plated claws, her bolas, caltrops, and a light Kevlar suit so she isn't weighed down. Selina may be confident in herself, but she's unaware of the risks.

She spots a group of soldiers on a roof, about five, and prepares herself. She sees they have guns. Expensive guns, by the looks of it. She can't tell what's more costly; the gun, or the armor. She hides behind a fan, taking everything in. She thinks about what she's about to do, and how crazy it is. But she remembers how she felt when Alfred told her Bruce was dead. It may be a fresh memory, but Selina still had sense enough to question herself. However, as she focuses on this, she's feeling the emotions rushing through her, even if she won't admit them. She then remembers how Bane had her locked away in a vault for her "Knight in shining armor" to rescue, and she has the motivation she needs. It may not be Bane, but she'll get the closest thing to it.

She leaps up from behind the fan, turns around and leaps down to some soldiers, knocking him down. Selina gets to her feet again and ejects her claws, threatening. "You're gonna pay for this!"

The soldiers chuckle. They're confident they'll take down Selina without the Venom, so they do it the old fashioned way. They start shooting and Selina moves like a cat, dodging the bullets and leaping into a soldier, scratching up his face. She extends her leg to her side and kicks a man down. The soldier Selina knocked down almost lands a hit on her, but she grabs the fist and digs her claws into his hand, hearing him scream. Someone comes up behind her, putting her in a headlock.

Selina scratches the man's eye, letting her go and grabbing his pistol, shooting him with it. Thinking she'd keep it for herself for later. A soldier delivers a flurry of attacks, and Selina counters them, to the soldier's surprise. When she scratches his throat, another soldier blurts out. "How the hell does she know how to fight?!"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Selina remarks.

A soldier goes into combat with her, getting some clean hits in, but is eventually killed, too. She ends up shot in the side when she's oblivious, but her suit dampens the impact to some degree. Of course, it still hurts. The soldiers' numbers are wearing down, but Selina isn't done yet. She gets the pistol she stole from the soldier earlier, and starts shootings at one of the enemies. Shortly after, more soldiers are zip lining in to the conflict to stop Catwoman. "How the hell is she winning?"

She starts getting hit by all sides, and she makes valiant effort to counter them, but gets overwhelmed eventually. She gets knocked away from the crowd and she tries to get back up, and is immediately kicked back to the edge of the roof. Her training with Batman is rusty, and she's paying the price for not always practicing.

She looks to her side, seeing how far up she is. Her heart almost drops. She looks back to the soldiers, and one with a boot planted firmly on her throat. The soldier has claw marks across his face, and he's pissed. The blood dripping from his face falls down to Selina's, feeling warm and sickly on her once-was pristine skin. Her body and her face bruised, and a bullet in her side. The soldier presses down some more on her throat, watching her struggling for breath. "You messed with the wrong people, Catwoman." The soldier gloats.

The soldier gets out his pistol, points at her face and remarks before she dies. "Bane told us not to kill anyone yet; but," the soldier places his finger behind the trigger, and cracks a little grin before he fires. "I'm sure he'll understand."

Then he shoots her in the head, and the gunfire resonates throughout the once quiet city, now filled with something terrible. Like an omen. Which one, though, the soldier is all oblivious too. He chuckles as he puts the pistol back into his pocket, and some of the other soldiers return to their posts. The soldier that killed Selina calls in for a chopper to take away the bodies, and then Selina's.

The temperature then changes from normal to cold, and it's as if something terrible is about to happen. The soldier turns to see his work and the body that he thinks is rightfully is, and he sees something unexpected. Something questionable….the body is gone. "What the hell?!" The soldier shouts.

"What?" One of the other soldiers shouts back.

"The body's gone!"

The soldier looks over the edge, and she wasn't knocked over. Nor is her body flattened on the pavement below. But all he sees in the place of the body is a small stain of blood. He looks around and sees the other bodies are still here, but not Selina's. "This is screwed up, man." He blurts out, panicking.

Then the other soldiers start panicking as one of them shouts, "Your face! What's happening to your face?!"

The soldier takes out his phone and opens the camera, and sees the claw marks on his face are now all of a sudden bleeding profusely, and it wasn't that hard of a scratch to cause such blood. "Holy shit, guys." He mumbles under his breath.

Then the soldiers notice him taking his pistol out of his holster, but the soldier himself doesn't notice. His hand shaking. His face bleeding. His heart pounding like a drum. "Hey! What are you doing?" One of the soldiers shout at him, and the man snaps out of his gaze and realizes his pistol in his hand. "Oh God. What's happening to me?" He mutters, terrifies.

Then, as fast as all this madness happened, it ends just as quick as the soldier plants his pistol in his mouth, and opens fire and blood sprays out from back of his head. "Holy shit!!" The soldiers all shout out in unison.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Hey, what's going on out there?"

"Dimitri just shot himself!"

"What?"

"It was insane!"

The comms are in disarray now, and as the soldiers fall into madness, they are still oblivious of what watches from above. Watching the scene unfold. Catwoman, perched on a rooftop. Six lives to go… She thinks.


	4. Chapter Four

Gordon is on his way back to his house, leaving the precinct and seeing all the soldiers and convoys, shaking his car when he drives near them. Gordon is filled with mystery and danger, and it's only amplified as he sees no civilians on the streets. He sees the soldiers following his movements as he slowly drives by, feeling watched with every turn he takes.

He then decides to stop by a soldier and roll down his window as he kindly asks, "What's going on out here?"

The soldier nonchalantly waves him off, demanding. "Just business, sir."

The look in the soldier's eyes was troubling to Gordon, and since there was another soldier standing by him, both looking Jim dead in the eyes, he obliged and rolled up the window. He keeps driving by and his car rattles when the convoy passes by. He takes a look at the soldiers behind him, still watching him. "What the hell is going on here?" Jim mutters to himself.

He sends a text to Batman's cell and doesn't answer back. He sends another one and no response. He starts to feel worried. He makes it to his home and parks his car in the garage, locking it three times to make sure. He steps inside and sees Barbara near the windows, looking around and jumping out of the couch when she sees Jim is okay. They share a passionate hug, thankful that both of them are alive and well, but Gordon still wants to ask, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just worried." She answers back, asking, too. "Are you fine?"

"Yeah." Jim replies.

They pull away and Jim asks her, "What've you been doing?"

"Just reading and I've been preoccupied with whatever's happening outside. It's like a warzone out there."

"They kept looking at me when I drove by. It's like I'm a wanted criminal or something." Jim adds.

Barbara looks around, making sure the windows are closed and the blinds are down. Becoming a little paranoid. "Is anyone going to do something about this?" She asks. Obviously hinting at the GCPD's involvement to quell this insanity from Evan's conference. "I hadn't heard much. Not since I was demoted."

Jim checks his phone to see if Batman answered back. Nothing. He tries calling. No answer. "And I can't reach Batman." He comments, worried even more.

Barbara's struck with fear. "You don't think he's…." Jim stops himself, afraid to finish.

They both look at each other in horror. "God.." Jim comments, almost broken. "He-he can't be."

Barbara feels sick to her stomach. She tries calling Alfred and no answer. Now she gets even more worried. But moments later, Alfred answers back. Barbara thinks to herself that it won't be as bad as she thinks, though her hope doesn't last long. "I'm sorry, Ms. Gordon." Alfred answers back. "Bruce is dead."

He then hangs up and Barbara falls to her knees, not knowing what to do from here. Her face stricken with fear and grief. Gordon kneels down to her level and asks her, "What's wrong?"

She can barely speak and mumbles out something along the lines of "dead" and Jim asks again. "What's wrong?" This time, he has a harder time of holding himself together.

"Batman."

Gordon fills in the blanks and mutters, "God no.."

He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes, handling it better than Barbara. "This can't be happening…" He mumbles under his breath.

He puts his glasses back on and says he needs to get some air and heads to the rooftop with some cigarettes, feeling his eyes water but not really crying. Just breaking on the inside. Then he sees something unbelievable. In the distance, Wayne Manor burns down. Everyone turns to witness this event, and in this moment, Jim assumes that the worst. Batman dead. Wayne Manor burnt down. He can't help but imagine that the two are connected in a way and then it hits him, even if it's a wild assumption. "Bruce…" He mumbles.

He shakes his head in disbelief. Hanging his head in shame as he lights his cigarette. Barbara comes up to the rooftop for some air, too, and sees the Manor burning down in the distance. She holds Gordon's arm tight as if she's drowning. Resting her head on his shoulder. "What are we gonna do?" She mutters underneath her breath. Under her sobbing.

Jim, as a father figure and a member of society with the means to do something, has no idea what to do, and he breaks down inside. "I don't know." He finally sheds a tear as he repeats himself. "I don't know."

He shakes his head in disappointment and comments. "I'm supposed to know."

He puffs another patch of smoke and feels worthless as Barbara holds Gordon's arm a little tighter, staining Jim's jacket with her tears. They stand there in silence as they watch the fire in the distance. Feeling like nothing as the world weighs on their shoulders.


	5. Chapter Five

During the night, Team A had planted bombs around municipal buildings and bridges, using a separate convoy to carry the large amount of explosives needed. Thankfully for them, the city is all but a ghost town, ensuring zero interference. The patrols worked.

Team A separated into groups to stand by the explosives and detonate them all at once. And when everyone is in place, the squad leader contacts Bane. "Explosives set."

"Good." Bane responds. "Detonate them."

"Roger."

And seconds later, the city is filled with sounds of chaos. People in the hospitals, precincts, fire departments, are barred in. Screams can be heard inside at the sound of an explosion. Many of them, in fact. Gordon and Barbara still stand on the rooftop of their home, and jump at the sound of the charges going off all at once. People inside their homes screaming. "Oh my God." Gordon mutters.

He then looks around and sees a bright light around the bridges too. "What the hell is going on?!" He shouts.

Gordon sees smoke from the GCPD. "God no." He mumbles under his breath.

Barbara turns around and sees the GCPD. Around the city. "Dad.." Barbara whispers.

Gordon looks around and sees the people patrolling the streets. "They were planning this!" He shouts to Barbara, trying to stay quiet.

"Who?"

"These maniacs patrolling the streets." He answers, frightened but not sure what to do. "We can't stop them."

The ominous silence returns, but worse now. It's like Gordon and Barbara can feel it in the wind. A cold chill down their spines. "Detonation successful." The squad leader affirms.

"Good."

Then suddenly, the billboards around the sides of the buildings start to go black. "Now what's happening?" Gordon complains.

Jim holds Barbara close to him, waiting for something else to happen. Moments later, the broadcast feed from the billboards returns, but it's something else. A mysterious man stands in a dimly lit room. Bane. Gordon and Barbara watch, as the city watches in their homes too. "People of Gotham. I am Bane."

"Bane." Barbara whispers. Remembering that name.

Gordon scowls at the screen as Barbara watches in fright.

"I will be your new king. Your savior is dead. And this, is a souvenir of your fallen idol."

He holds up Batman's broken cowl, and he shows it in the light. Then he crushes it. "What the hell…" Jim mumbles.

Barbara covers her mouth in shock. "But there is no need to worry. You are under my protection now."

Jim can't believe what he's hearing. Nor what's happening. It's all so much to take in. Same for Barbara. "Batman was an usurper of chaos, and only now did you see it. But he was the beginning."

Bane pauses as the words take effect. "Criminals of this tainted city will be executed, and we can pursue a brighter future without their blood on every street corner. "

The criminals on the streets, feeling betrayed, start shouting in retaliation, and then the soldiers start shooting them down. The shouting and the screaming continues from the madmen and the civilians. "The criminal element in this city was too great, and this was the only way."

"This man is insane!" Jim shouts to Barbara over the chaos.

Barbara shakes her head in disbelief. "You can't train a wild hound not to bite, and the only thing it'll understand is natural selection. Do not panic Gotham. You are under my protection. I will make sure of that." He says over the madness ensuing around Gotham.

But then Bane says something that will change Gotham forever. As Jim and Barbara know where this is headed. "But how much did you know about your hero? The Batman?"

"No..he's not.." Jim mumbles, almost not believing what he's hearing.

Bane leans in closer to the camera as his face is illuminated by the lights. "What savior did you worship all these years? What hid under his cowl?"

"No…" Barbara whispers as her hands clasped over her lips.

"I knew him. I've seen his face. A broken man. Falling from grace. The man you all thought was dead all those years ago."

Jim holds Barbara close, tighter now. Afraid of what's about to happen. Revealing Batman's identity to Gotham. To the world. He then reaches for something nearby, and then Bane delivers the final blow to Batman's legacy. "Batman. Is Bruce Wayne!"

Barbara and Jim are hit like a truck with these news. Worried for Bruce. What this could mean. Thoughts circling around their heads. The civilians losing their minds as Bane shows pictures of Bruce next to a picture of Batman, beaten and bloody. Showing what he looked like after Bane finished him off. "He did it…" Gordon whispers, taken aback. Amazed that Bane pulled this all off.

Barbara's legs fail her as she falls to her knees, shocked. Terrified. The picture of Batman bruised and beaten like that scares her. What would Bane do to her? To anyone else? To her father? "This can't be real." Barbara mutters.

And then, the broadcast ends. The billboards resume showing news, and the newscasters freaking out. "Change of plans." Bane tells his men. "Team C: Go into Arkham, and kill every inmate. But break out Killer Croc. Tell him to have his fun."

"Affirmative." Team C leader answers.

Team B goes out to pursue their objective, and Team C is on standby. Jim is on the rooftop still, not sure what to do. Outgunned and outnumbered. Batman's dead. "What'd we do?" Barbara asks her dad.

The crippling reality comes back to him as he still doesn't have the answers. "I don't know." He answers, frightened. Worried. "It's over." He adds, out of options. "It's over." He repeats.

Barbara and Jim shoot up when they turn to the direction of another explosion, and the Wayne Enterprises building starts to crumble to the ground. And at this point, they're not sure if this night can get any worse, but they're sure it's just the beginning. Jim turns around to see Barbara has left downstairs. He goes down to see where Barbara went, shouting throughout the house. "Barbara! You can't go out! It's too dangerous!"

He looks around the house and then he hears an engine start. He goes outside to see Barbara dressed in her Batgirl outfit. "Barbara?!" He mutters.

She walks over to her dad and takes his hand, "Come with me."

She puts her cowl on and walks back to her motorcycle. "Wait—-how long—" Gordon fries to speak but he's so shocked he can't. "You—you work with Batman?!"

Barbara gets back on her cycle and dad refuses to get on the bike. "Just trust me!" Barbara tries to get him on the bike and after a while, he accepts because he doesn't have much else to do. "Hang on tight!"

Barbara shakes her head. "Can't believe I'm doing this."

She revs up her cycle again and then she speeds away. "Barbara!" Gordon shouts as the speed is so sudden and the fear of being shot down.

The soldiers try to fire, but they can't keep up with the speed. The convoys can't keep up either because they weren't meant for speed. Barbara is headed towards the Batcave entrance under the Manor, and once inside, Gordon has to catch his breath. When he catches his breath, he looks around at the Batcave. Astonished. "So this is where he when every night?"

Barbara gets out her phone and dials a special someone. "Hey. How fast can you get here?"


	6. Chapter Six

Looking at the screen in dismay at the sight of Batman's body, Dick feels a hint of regret. Though, he still feels anger towards him. Anger for being mistreated and thrown away like nothing. But deep inside, he still thinks about where he'd be without him. Even if the thought gives him a headache sometimes.

The news is blowing up about Batman's death and shocking reveal, and has made its way to Bludhaven. Dick is in his basement, working on his bike, distracted by the news. He gets a call from Barbara, asking how fast he can get to Gotham. "Why?" Dick asks. He knows about the news, but couldn't care less about Gotham at the moment.

"Because Gotham is--" Barbara answers, but Dick interrupts her.

"I know."

Barbara can be heard scoffing through the other side of the phone, and then she continues. "I can't do all this by myself. My dad's in the Batcave and--"

"Wait what?!" Dick speaks up louder now. Shocked.

"I had to take him to safety. Look, we have to come up with a plan. I need you in Gotham."

"So you and me are gonna take on an army by ourselves?" Dick asks, unsure.

Barbara sighs as she answers back. "I know it's insane, but Bruce told us to never give up."

The way she says it, it's almost as if she's talking about Dick leaving Bruce, too. There's silence between the two of them as Dick returns to working on his bike, and Barbara doesn't speak for a little while. "I might have an idea on where we could start. Get here as fast as you can. And be careful." Barbara doesn't leave room for a rebuttal as she ends the call immediately after saying it, and expects him to be there.

Dick looks at his phone and sees she hung up, and he sits there contemplating his options. He thinks about Barbara, and how she could be in danger. Their last conversation didn't end well, and he still thinks about it. But he can't let her end up in harm's way. "Dammit." Dick remarks.

He changes into his suit and gets on his bike, and revs his way towards Gotham. It takes about two hours or so for Dick to reach Gotham, only for him to come across a ruined bridge. He pulls to a stop and assesses his situation. "Bridge is out." Dick calls Barbara.

"Shit. I forgot." Barbara swears back.

"I'm gonna have to leave my bike here." Dick replies.

He gets off his bike and shoots his grapnel gun at the other side of the bridge to cross it. It's a rather large chunk of the bridge taken out. He's decided to stick to the top of the bridge and walk on the suspensions, figuring it'll be safer than waltzing into Gotham while it's currently under a dictatorship. "Okay. What's the plan?" Dick asks.

"First off, we need to cut off their communications. Grab a comm from one of the soldiers, and I can figure out what station they're using and we can work on disabling it."

Dick chuckles. "Good idea." He replies, surprised.

He gets to the end of the bridge and gets out his binoculars to look around for a soldier he can sneak up on and take down. While Dick is busy doing that, Jim wants to have a talk with Barbara. "Hey, uh, we need to talk." His voice sounds worried. Betrayed.

"What is it?" Barbara asks. Taken aback by Jim's tone. She's never heard him like this.

"First, take off that mask." Gordon demands, wanting to his daughter and not Batgirl.

She takes off her mask and puts it on the Batcomputer next to her. "Dad, I…" She starts off slowly, kindly.

"Don't." Jim interrupts.

He puts his hands in his pockets and takes a deep breath. "How long?" He asks.

Barbara leans by the desk and thinks. Knowing the answer but afraid to say it. Always fearing this moment. "Almost two years." She finally responds.

Jim sighs as he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. Barbara can only imagine what's going through her father's head right now. "Why?" Jim asks, almost breaking down on the inside. Worried what danger his daughter, the only thing he has left, could've found herself in.

Barbara looks down at the ground, unable to look at her dad in the eye. She can't answer the why because she hates seeing her dad this way. When she doesn't answer, Jim waves off the conversation. "We'll talk about this later."

Dick comes by moments later with a comm from one of the soldiers. "I got the.." He stops himself from finishing the sentence because he sees Jim and Barbara. With Barbara unmasked in her Batgirl suit. "Oh.." His voice changes from excitement to shock.

"Yeah.." Barbara answers back, discouraged.

Dick then walks up to Barbara and hands her the walkie talkie. Barbara takes a deep breath and tries to put herself back to work again. "Hey." Dick remarks to Jim, trying to lighten the mood. But Jim isn't phased by this. "Never mind." He whispers to himself.

Barbara takes apart the walkie talkie and inserts the chip into the computer. Only to find something other than what she was expecting. "The channel's locked behind a passcode. Of course." Barbara complains.

"If I knew that, I'd have asked for one." Dick chimes in.

"It's fine. I'll see what I can do"

"What are the chances they won't notice you hacking into their communications?" Jim asks.

Barbara scoffs, mad at herself for not thinking this through. "We don't really have a lot of options right now."

As silence ensues for a while, Jim stands somewhere by himself, trying to think. To take in everything that's happened so far. Barbara fills his thoughts. Worrying. But the only thought that has reign over everything else, even Barbara, is Batman. If only Batman were here...


	7. Chapter Seven

Gordon went outside to get some air while Dick and Barbara do their work. He blows smoke from his cigar and thinks back to how Gotham just had low-life criminals. But the moment of quiet is interrupted as Gordon walks around in the ashes of the Manor. He feels fear. Not knowing this was Alfred's doing, but what if it was the soldiers that did this. He can't believe his eyes. He feels like he's walking on a gravesite. Not sure what ashes were Alfred's.

He doesn't feel like smoking his cigar right now, so he stomps it out and just stands around. Wondering what to do next. Outgunned. Outmatched. But he still can't get Barbara out of his head. A part of him tells him he should stay with his daughter and keep her safe. The other part of him, however, is eager to fight back. To protect Barbara. The next thing he knows, his hand is on his gun. He clutches the handle and then peels his trench coat back to conceal his firearm, and heads back down to the Batcave. "Figure out the code?" Gordon shouts out.

"Not yet." Barbara answers back.

Gordon looks around and sees a missing body. "Where's uh, the other guy?"

"Dick is—"

She stops herself and replies with a wiser response. Clearing her throat. "Richard is out doing recon."

"Is there a car I can use?" Gordon asks.

"Nightwing was using it earlier. It was the prototype Batmobile."

Barbara turns around and asks, concerned. "You're not going back out there, are you?"

"I am."

Barbara stands up from her chair. Her face filled with worry. "But why?"

"Because it's my job to keep this city safe."

"You're not safe out there! That's why I brought you here!" Barbara shouts back.

Barbara appears frazzled now, but Jim controls himself. Trying to salvage the situation without it getting out of hand. He gets up close to Barbara and responds back. "I'm a cop and a father. If anything happened to you,"

He stops himself as he thinks about his words. Seeing Barbara in her Batsuit. "If anything _else_ happened to you, I'd never forgive myself."

Barbara holds her father's hand tight and answers back. "I can take care of myself, dad."

"You shouldn't have to." Jim counters.

Jim takes Barbara's hand and places a hand over it. "I promised your mother I'd keep you safe. And I'll be damned if I let these people get away with it."

Jim's demeanor almost starts to waiver, but he then regains his composure. "I was scared before, but not anymore."

Barbara places a hand over Jim's and retorts. "I never wanted you to place your life on the line."

Jim nods back in approval. "Only one of us should have."

Jim takes a few steps back and drops his hands to his side as he asks again. "Do you have a car?"

Barbara sighs deeply, and then tosses Jim a miniature controller. "Press this to call back the Batmobile. The other one got smashed."

Jim catches it and presses the button. "It should only take a few minutes before it gets here." Barbara adds.

Jim nods back and he puts the controller into his pocket and after a moment of silence, he asks Barbara. "If your friend is doing recon, why not use the CCTV?"

"I tried that, but it seems like the soldiers have taken over the feed. It won't let me access it."

"Maybe we can do something about that." Jim remarks.

Barbara's worried, but at least Dick will be around to help him. "We get the CCTV back online, we can monitor their movements there." Jim explains.

The Batmobile comes back and Jim sets foot into the beast and is baffled at the number of buttons and switches. "This is…"

He sits down in the chair and gets his hand on the wheel. "...elaborate…"

"Yeah. I don't know how he does it." Barbara comments, smirking a little. Seeing Jim in the Batmobile. Always afraid of what her father would think, but the joy on his face is something she hasn't seen in a while.

A red dot appears on a map in the Batmobile and Barbara clarifies. "That'll lead you to Dick. And watch out for the APCs."

"Copy that." Jim answer's back.

He revs up the engine and feels the power surge through him. The cockpit closes up and Jim smiles at the ferocity of the vehicle. The platform rotates and the Batmobile starts its path back to Gotham with a roar echoing throughout the cave. With Barbara standing near the computer, watching her father run back into the fray. "Stay safe, dad."


	8. Chapter Eight

Jim speeds towards Dick's location, steering away from soldiers and APCs. While he's driving, he notices this is a lot different than the finished product. This one is tougher to control, and isn't as fast. Jim is taken aback by the difference and the improvement of the later model.

While on the way to Dick, Jim runs into a roadblock with soldiers hindering his progress. He has a second of hesitation. Afraid to cause any trouble. But on the other hand, he's diving in a Batmobile, and he's a recognizable face. And open season is in effect. Jim nears the roadblock now and he has to make a decision. Even if he knows it, he double checks the windows and the locks. He slows down so the soldiers inspect the vehicle. Thankfully, the windows are tinted. But a soldier still knocks on the window and the others stay on guard.

Jim sees they're a little uneasy. The body language and their constant movements. Jim is about to hit the gas and hightail it out of the roadblock, but then he sees another APC come out from the corner. The soldier keeps knocking on the window, this time a little harder now. "We know it's not Batman, but open your window now!"

Jim hears the man shout, and he notices the change in his voice. The APC empties out with more people, and Jim thinks of ramming the convoy with the car, but he isn't sure how tough it is. Gordon decides it's better than nothing, and hits the gas to get out as fast as possible. Only for the car to take longer to take off than it should. Jim finally takes off, and then, from behind, something stops him. The tires screech and the car keeps accelerating and accelerating, but a soldier has the Batmobile's rear in his grasp. Jim looks at the rearview mirror and sees a giant keeping his car from leaving. "Oh my God.." Gordon mutters.

The soldier then slams the car back into the ground, rustling Gordon. His foot slides off the gas and then the cockpit is caved in. Jim starts to panic and he only knows one solution. He kicks the gas as hard as he can and he presses a random button to get him out of the situation.

He's then shot through the streets and bumps into the convoy, unsure if he scratched the car or the APC. The NOS managed to get him out of the situation, and as he reaches Dick again, the acrobat jumps from the building and uses a grapple to save his fall. Once he's on level with him again, Jim falls out of the Batmobile, panting. Having a minor coughing fit. Probably due to his smoking habit. He grabs Nightwing for stability as he gets back up to his feet.

Shocked, Dick gets him back up to his feet asks him, "You okay?"

"No."

Jim coughs and then he repeats himself, "No. I don't know what just happened."

Dick steadies Jim and once he's ready, silence ensues for a brief moment before Gordon says the word. "The Broadcast Station is just a couple blocks away."

Dick nods back and the two stick to nearby buildings, trying to stay out of sight of nearby soldiers and convoys. If it weren't for Dick, Jim would be good as dead. He has little experience staying stealthy. They approach the station and see some soldiers guarding the entrance.

Dick takes out his batons and he rubs them together, creating a charge and when it's ready, he throws the sticks at the soldiers' heads, knocking them out. When they're inside the station, they are greeted with cameras everywhere. Dick retrieves his batons and contacts Barbara, "Babs, turn off the camera feed in the building."

"Way ahead of you." Barbara answers back. "I'm going to loop the surveillance feed from earlier in the day."

"Thanks." Dick compliments.

Gordon looks at Dick, perplexed. "Babs?"

Dick cracks a little smile. Before they venture further, Dick stops Jim and warns him. "I think you should know that these guys aren't your normal soldiers."

"I know what you mean." Jim remarks.

"Well, they have strength enhancements. That's the main thing to be worried about. You're not going to be able to take them out head-on."

Jim nods back, nervous, but determined. "So what'd we do?"

"If we get caught and they juice up, leave them to me and you run as fast as you can." Dick demands.

Jim isn't happy with the proposal, but he doesn't think he has a lot of options. Especially after the encounter he had earlier. "It's better Barbara has her father than me." Dick adds, almost certain of the terrible reality that awaits.

He feels guilty for how he acted before he left, but still doesn't see himself one-hundred percent at fault either. But everyone thinks differently when they're about to die.

Jim pats Dick on the shoulder, knowing he can trust him. Feeling like he'd do the same thing. He feels the need to protest Nightwing's decision, but at least he'll be alive to keep her daughter safe if everything goes south. If he manages to escape in the first place.

Dick and Jim come across some more soldiers having a conversation. "I'm not so sure about this." Jacob complains.

The other soldier, Donald, replies back. "Why's that?"

"Well, for one thing, the bomb."

Dick and Gordon look at each other, worried. "I signed up to do something good, but it looks like we're not after all." Donald answers back, disappointed.

"Yeah, look," Jacob starts off. "I think we all knew we weren't going to do good when we sided with Penguin. But I bet some of us couldn't care any less."

Donald sighs deeply. "Yeah, but at least I won't be in a cubicle wasting away my damn life."

"I'd rather be there than to tell myself I worked with Cobbepot."

Silence breaks through for a bit, haunting the air as Jacob tells himself under his breath,"Least I'll be dead after this."

Dick then whistles and attracts one of the soldiers as Gordon tenses up behind him. Before the soldier can return with his findings, Dick whacks him with a baton in the throat and chokes him out so he's rendered unconscious. Dick then bounces a baton against a wall as it ricochets towards the other soldier, knocking him out with the shock.

Dick holds his hand out and catches the baton as it ricochets back and puts in the holster in his back. "Impressive." Gordon compliments as he eases up.

"It's all in the wrist." Dick remarks.

It all seemed to be going according to plan so far, but they couldn't predict what they'd find next.


	9. Chapter Nine

Dick and Gordon sneak around the base a little more before they run into more soldiers having a conversation. "So how did Bane recruit Killer Croc?" Caleb asked.

Dick is about to strike, but he wants to know the answer to this, too.

Jonah chuckled a little. "You don't wanna know."

"Well yeah, but, what happened?" Caleb asked, insisting on an answer.

Jonah looks at Caleb, a little frightened. But he knew Caleb would just insist on asking. "Well, Blake told me what happened, and it went like this," He starts.

Jonah turns to Caleb and starts. "Bane decided one day to make a visit into the sewers of Gotham with Blake and three other men. I think they were rookies at the time. Bane never told them what they were after. They wandered through the sewage for hours until they found him. Killer Croc. Blake tells me that he had never seen him up close before, and he mentioned how scared he was. He told me he had to keep a strong face, which was pretty hard. He doesn't know how the others felt."

Jonah takes a sip of some of his whiskey as he continues. "Blake thought he'd have to take it down with just three soldiers. He saw it charge at him, then Bane came out from behind them and fought it himself."

Jonah took a moment to pause as he collected himself. "Blake told me how brutal he was. He was like a tank. The fight lasted about one minute before Bane lifted him up into the air and slammed him down onto his knee."

"Damn…" Caleb replied, stunned.

Jonah takes another sip of his whiskey, longer this time. He collects himself again before he continues. "Blake made a note to tell me he heard that bone snap. He never forgets that sound. He told me that he could see Croc breathing still. He didn't kill him, but he came close. But he was convinced that he could. Blake was terrified, and he was sure his other friends were too."

Jonah stops for a second as he continues. "Bane said that this was a lesson to Blake and the others to never forget where your loyalty lies."

"Damn…" Caleb answers back, fear stricken. In awe.

Nightwing looks at Jim with legitimate fear, but it's not as definite as the look on Gordon's face. Almost like he's seen a ghost. Dick has managed to cover up his fear more, but this is something new for him. They stare at each other in worry. Then Jonah continues. "Then he told Croc that they have a familiar goal. To bring down the Batman. It didn't take long for Croc to comply."

"Wow, that was…" Couple seconds later he repeats, "Wow."

"Yep." Jonah replies as he drinks more of his wine. Then Caleb asks. "So, if that was their initiation, what'd Bane do for the others?"

Jonah shakes his head in disapproval as he replies. "Who the hell knows."

Dick then gets out his batons and takes out the soldiers in the hallway. As he's about to retrieve his weapons from their unconscious bodies, he hears someone coming around the corner.

Dick then whispers to Jim to fall back behind the corner, asking while they're concealed. "How much father do we have to go?"

"It's in the next room."

The two soldiers see the bodies and one of them shouts, "What the…?"

"I'll cover you." The other replies as he trains his gun opposite of his friend.

Dick's batons are still where the bodies are. He'd be out in the open with two guns pointed at him if he were to come out now. He also remembers that they could pound him to the ground. "Hey, what's this?" The soldier asks as he picks up the sticks.

"Dammit." Dick mutters under his breath.

The other soldier turns around and asks, "What are those?"

The soldier that was investigating the bodies then puts two and two together. "We have a breach. Call it in."

The soldier calls it in and the other soldier comes closer to the corner to investigate what might've happened. As soon as he appears out of the corner, Dick punches him in the face and then knocks him down to the ground, knocking him out.

"Hey, you okay?" The other soldier asks as he hears armor being slammed down hard.

He's about to go and check up on him, but believes something is out there, and instead goes into the other room next door with the Batons attached to his belt.

"He didn't juice up." Dick comments, perplexed.

"Hey, you're right." Jim responds, surprised. "But why?"

"I don't know. But I don't like where this is going so far." Dick complains, worried, but confident still.

Dick and Jim walk on a little further and open the double doors to a large area filled with data banks and soldiers as Gordon points to the main station up top that controls the CCTV cameras. "This ain't gonna be easy." Jim mutters under his breath.

"Can't be that bad." Dick remarks, trying to hide his emotions.

As they start to sneak their way towards the station, Dick has another idea as one soldier asks no one in particular. "Do you think Bane cheated?"

"Focus on your job!" Someone shouts back. "We got a breach!"

"Who is it?" Another one asks.

The soldiers then have a conversation amongst themselves.

"We're not sure. All we got are some batons."

"They look like they can electrocute you, too." The soldier with the sticks explains.

"Could it be one of Batman's helpers?"

"Batman's little helpers don't carry around shock sticks."

"Hey, wataminute…" One of them blurts out. "What about that Blüdhaven guy?"

Silence ensues for a moment as the soldiers start to think. "Ohhyeah… But what's he doing in Gotham? He's got his own problems there."

"It's one of Batman's sidekicks!"

"Huh…" One soldier remarks. "Was wondering why we made a stronghold around the city. But isn't this overkill?"

"It's just fine." Another answers back.

Dick is perched up on a lookout point, surveying the area, almost grinning as the soldiers talk about him. With Gordon in a closet, waiting to be let out. Ten guys. All armed. And all I got is a grapnel gun and a Batarang. Dick thinks to himself. They won't see it coming.

His grin diminishes as he starts to focus and plan out his attack. He takes out four of them before someone finally speaks up, "Wait, didn't this helper die a couple days ago?"

Dick freezes up as he hears this. Now it's his turn to be shocked. His mind flooding with questions, he then snaps back to reality as he hears a gun fire behind him. It hits him in the side. Though his suit offers some protection against bullets, this was close range with a rifle. He staggers, but quickly regains his composure, jumping over the railing and to the ground, tossing a smoke pellet at the soldier's way. He lands on his feet, but collapses to his knees in pain. His side bleeding out.

He knows he's not out of sight yet, and he has to get to cover. Stupid! He thinks, beating himself up about being caught off guard.

He hides behind a nearby data bank, and doesn't have anything to cover up his wound, and his blood trail will show where he's going. He clenches his fists and gets ready to fight. He gets out one of his Batarangs and throws it into one of the soldier's gun barrels, causing it to backfire and explode on him. "This time, we're gonna make sure you're dead!"

"Oh, I'm real scared now!" Dick shouts back.

He turns to see soldiers splitting up, trying to ambush him at both angles. Give him nowhere to hide. He then cracks his neck and moves out of his cover, grabbing a soldier's gun as he points it down as the rifle's bullet ricochets through a window into an empty room. Dick then raises the gun upwards to strike him in the face. While he's briefly dazed, Dick knocks him to the side, leaping over someone and kicks them in the face as hard as he can to knock him out.

He sees more soldiers now, ready to kill him. He uses his acrobat skills to jump around, dodging the bullets, gritting his teeth through the pain. "How is he doing this?" One soldier shouts.

"Gymnastics! You should try it sometime!"

He then finally retrieves his batons and grins, "I've missed you."

He then leaps forward to a soldier, electrocuting him and knocking him out. Someone tries to strike from behind, but he shuts them down as he throws a baton to a nearby soldier, giving him a short shock. As the baton ricochets back towards him, he dropkicks him. A soldier thrusts the butt of their rifle downwards, trying to smash his face in. The Cobalt Crusader rolls away and gets back to his feet, leaping over him and wrapping his legs around his neck, throwing him down.

Someone fires another shot at his back, and he wastes no time to take him down. Sticking the batons to the sides of his neck, electrocuting him and kicking him to the side. Finally, there's one more soldier left. He's a couple feet away from him. He has his gun ready to fire at Gordon's head. His arm wrapped around his head. Using his body as a shield. "Don't move, freak!" The soldier shouts.

Gordon then slams his elbow into the man's stomach, head butts him as Dick tosses a baton at the soldier's head, dazing him for a short time. Then Jim swings some punches and knocks him down for the count.

Jim rubs his hand after he had just dished out those punches, chuckling a little. Dick smiles for a bit as he covers his side where the bullet hit. "You all right?" Jim asks.

Nightwing answers back. "Yeah, but I need something to cover this."

"We'll get you to safety after this." Gordon adds, compassionately, but sternly. "You gonna be able to make it?"

"Shouldn't be so bad." Dick remarks, but obviously in pain. "Now let's get that CCTV thing before they wake up."

They finally make their way to the station, and Dick asks Gordon. "You know how to work this?"

They approach a computer, much bigger than usual, and Jim answers nervously, but confidently. "Yeah."

"I do too." Barbara butts in.

Moments later, the computer is back to normal and Gordon exclaims, "It's done."

"But the fight isn't over yet." Dick comments.

"Far from it." Gordon replies, sternly. "But this is a start."

They then make way to the exit of the building, feeling relieved that the fight will be much easier now. Though it doesn't guarantee it'll save Gotham.


	10. Chapter Ten

When Jim and Dick reunite at the Batcave, Barbara is already going through the CCTV cameras, examining the convoy's patrol routes and the dead bodies littered throughout the city. Her stomach turns as she looks at the carnage, wondering what could've caused it.

Barbara turns when she hears something new and notices Nightwing's wounds, jumping from her chair asking. "What happened?!"

"Well, first off, Bane's soldiers. Secondly, it wasn't easy getting back here."

"Doesn't Batman have a Doctor here?" Jim asks.

"Yeah, but he's not here right now." Barbara sadly replies.

"Just take me to the bed." Dick commands.

Jim carries him to the MedBay as Barbara helps. She puts bandages on Nightwing's wounds and hopes for the best. "Where's the doctor?" Jim asks.

"I don't know." Barbara answers.

"You know, I'll be fine." Dick grunts back.

Barbara puts her hands on his chest and denies him. "You're going to rest up." Her voice stern but worried. Still upset about the falling out they had. But she can't bring herself to follow through on her emotions because she doesn't like seeing people in pain. Even if she almost feels like she should.

Gordon's spent years as a cop and a detective. He knows when people aren't liking each other. And he notices it now between Dick and Barbara. But he thinks this is a private matter to discuss another time. He clears his throat and he asks Barbara. "What you got on the CCTV?"

Barbara looks up at Gordon and walks back to the computer, shouting at Dick to stay put on the bed on her way there. She opens the screen up again and is about to show her findings until someone comes in and attacks a group of soldiers, shooting wildly and intent on killing them. Barbara and Jim watch as one man is taking on twelve people at once. "Can you get a good look at him?" Gordon asks.

Before she's about to analyze the live feed, one of the soldiers juiced up and everyone backs away. Then the two finally see what the soldiers are really capable of. The mysterious man dodges out of the way as the behemoth smashes the hood of a car. Metal and glass sprays everywhere. He then grabs the car like it's nothing and throws it at the attacker. The mysterious man shoots at something on the car as it explodes in the brute's face. It does little to hinder him and he charges towards him again.

The giant doesn't miss this time as he manages to catch the mysterious man, and then slams him onto the ground. A crater forms from his body and the soldier is about to strike again, but the smaller man is fast to get back to his feet, shooting him in the neck. "He looks like one of them…" Gordon comments, examining the mystery man. "What's he doing?"

Barbara and Gordon continue to examine the man, and worried what they'll have to deal with one of those juiced up soldiers at some point. Unfortunately, the mystery man lost. But in this time of defeat, Barbara and Jim have a better look at the mystery man. Batgirl's eyes shoot open and her mouth drops like a weight. "Oh my God!" She shouts.

Gordon turns to her, worried. "What is it?"

She barely musters a word but finally says something back. "Jason!"

Dick rustles from behind them and shouts back, "Jason?"

"Who's Jason?" Gordon asks, ready for an answer.

"He was one of Batman's allies. Like me and Dick." She starts, upset. She takes a pause as she recalls the day he died, or so she thought. "Joker killed him. But—-" She stops herself, dumbfounded. "but how?"

Barbara sees Jason getting dragged into one of the convoys, and watches on different cameras as they drive to one of their bases. Highlighting it for later. Barbara leans over the computer, distressed. "How are we supposed to fight back? Against Bane? Against all of these people?" Barbara asks.

A few moments later, Gordon has an idea. "We hit them where it hurts."

"What'd you mean?" Barbara asks.

Gordon takes a deep breath and answers back. "We hit their weapon supply. Their communications. Find out what they're using that makes them stronger, and get rid of it. Use the CCTV cameras to analyze what goes where, and plan from there."

Barbara smiles a little and remarks. "You're good at this."

Gordon nods back. "This was your idea."

Barbara shakes her head in disappointment. "Yeah, it was."

She looks up at Gordon as she adds, "But one thing I learned growing up, from you, from Batman, is to never give up."

Gordon smiles lightly, and then Barbara looks back at the screen, disappointed. "But Batman did."


	11. Chapter Eleven

Jason wakes up in one of Bane's headquarters, locked in what seems to be a small, metal room. Almost like a prison. Jason rubs his head, wincing as he touches it. His last encounter with the soldier didn't go so well. He thought for sure he was dead, but he begins to feel like his wounds are starting to heal.

He looks around some more and sees a camera. A worn out door. He gets to his feet and tries to open it, and it almost budges. Jason doesn't have the strength at the moment to push open the door. He hears footsteps and backs away from the door as soldiers kick open the door. The space is too small for the soldiers to bulk up, and so they have to fight as a group. Jason gets roughed up a lot, but he manages to fight back as blood fills the small space. He takes some pistols back since the soldiers took his away when they dumped him in here. As well as a knife.

Jason steps around the bodies and walks out the room at last, hunched over with his hand over his stomach. More soldiers come in from a corner and Jason fires his pistols at them. Managing to knock one out, shooting him up in the stomach for good measure. He heads into a nearby room to see if there's more soldiers, and shoots a group of soldiers looking at a map. He looks at the board and sees a printed-out map of the city with pins on various locations. He gets out his phone to take a picture as some soldiers barge in ready to fire. Jason gets out some grenades and throws it at the entrance as the soldiers show themselves, shooting them to make sure they're dead.

Jason continues to fight his way through the base as someone hits him from behind with a pipe. Already weak, Jason tumbles face first to the ground as he looks back and sees the soldier holding the pipe like a crowbar, holding it behind his head. Jason has flashbacks to Joker and the horrible things he did to him. He finds strength within himself to stand up to his feet and act on his anger unimpeded. Though his anger is only worsened when the Bane thug starts to talk about pain. "You don't know the meaning of pain." Jason snarls back, clenching his fists with an iron grip.

The soldier chuckles. "I think I do."

A brawl breaks out between them, and even in his weakened state, Jason fights with a vengeance. Though this thug is an adept fighter, Jason manages to one up him. Breaking bones and disabling the arm that the man is using for the pipe, beating him with it. He hits him in the throat to cut off some of his oxygen, then he fractures one of his ribs to cut through his heart every breath he takes. He breaks his hip bone and sends him to the ground, letting out a cry as the bone shatters, and grunting as his rib cuts through his heart. Now bleeding out from the inside.

To add insult to injury, Jason picks him up from the ground and smashes his face in, knocking him back down with a thud, damaging his skull. He continues to do it repeatedly until he hears a crack, then he kicks him aside, tossing away the pipe, pleased with his work. As he looks down on the crippled, beaten body, struggling to breathe, he picks him up and talks to him through gritted teeth, with anger in his eyes. "This is pain. Feeling your life slipping away. Dying on the ground. No one to save you. No one to hear you. Waiting for the death that doesn't come. Only for it to happen again. And the only person you trusted doesn't save you."

Jason grips the soldier's jacket tighter and gets in closer to his face as he finishes. "That is pain."

He then gets quieter as he growls his final words, looking at him with a terrible gaze, piercing through his soul. "Go to hell, scumbag."

He then shoves him back to the ground, and walks away, smiling at the mumbled, incoherent sounds coming from the body he just beat up. Smiling because the soldier can't reach his gun.

He finally gets to the exit and takes a moment to collect himself, feeling the bruises he's been afflicted by the soldiers here, remembering Gotham. He breathes through the pain as he thinks about what these people could do to the city, and what they've already done. He clenches a fist as he gets ready to exit the base, thinking to himself, I can't let these freaks do anything else.


	12. Chapter Twelve

An hour had passed since Dick and Gordon had infiltrated the CCTV station, and Selina has become aware of things escalating around the city. Soldiers covering every angle of every building in an effort to counter Selina's attacks. Selina has thought about how to counter their strategy, but she doesn't have one that doesn't require losing all her lives.

But before she thinks all is hopeless, she is met with something worse. She hears screaming in the distance. She turns to see prisoners running rampant on the streets. Rioting in the streets and throwing Molotov cocktails into buildings. But what makes this even worse, is the presence of Killer Croc. But he looks different now. A little bigger.

"Shit." Selina whispers to herself.

Selina sees Croc run into a building, and come out coated in blood. "You sick freak." Selina growls to herself, but she doesn't know how to stop him. Let alone the prisoners running amok. She just watches as chaos unfolds. The sound of carnage makes her think back to Batman. How he fought against all odds. How he worked himself up from a frightened kid in an alley to a paragon of virtue. The one she chooses to remember. "I hate you Bruce." Selina mutters.

She plants a metal hook onto the side of the building and she propels down to ground level. As she lands to safety, she gets her claws ready and shouts to some rioters, "Hey, boys! Least leave some of the goods for me!"

She attacks some of the rioters as she cuts into their bodies and managing to take down multiple escapees, only for her fun to be interrupted as a family is dragged out of their homes, kicking and screaming. Two kids. A woman and a man. An escapee has a gun pointed at them, while the others kick the man and woman. The kids screaming, crying. "No!" Selina shouts at the top of her lungs.

She pushes aside a prisoner, shoving some more out of her way as she darts towards the family. Then the man with a gun shoots at her leg, nicking her thigh. It's not much, but she still starts to bleed a little. She winces as the stinging sensation shoots up her leg, and she wobbles as she lands on feet. She gets her whip and yanks away the gun, pulling him forward as he stumbles, leaving him open for Selina to gouge his eyes out, gritting her teeth in frustration and then slamming the man's head onto the pavement, hearing a crack. Another prisoner gets out his gun and puts the woman in a headlock, pointing the gun at her head. "I'll do it!"

Nearby rioters stop for a moment as they watch, cheering on the captor. Some booing Selina. "You should be helping us!"

Selina wiggles her fingers, showing off her claws. "You should shut up." Selina barks back.

The captor tenses up as he shoves the gun closer against her head, shouting back. "I'll blow her brains out!"

"Please!" The woman cries out.

While the prisoners' gaze is fixed on Selina and the captor, the man looks up at Catwoman and slowly gets on his hands and knees. The feline thief then turns her gaze back to the captor. "Makes you strong, doesn't it?" Selina remarks, mocking him.

"What're you talking about?"

Selina continues as she says in her defensive stance, her thigh still slightly bleeding out. "Pick on a poor, defenseless woman with a gun? You feel like a man?"

The husband behind the captor looks around and sees prisoners looking at the captor, on Selina, but he's still in their sight. He slowly gets to his feet, wincing as he tries to move under the pain. The prisoner then barks back. "And what are you so afraid of?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"So what?"

"Oh, I'm just asking. You're not a pussy, are ya?"

Some of the prisoners chuckle a little and the captor starts to get agitated. He rests his finger on the trigger and shouts, "I'll do it!"

"Aww, don't have a comeback? I'm sad."

"I'll knock your lights out, you cat bitch." The captor retorts aggressively. The man is almost on his feet as he grabs a nearby chunk of rock, getting ready to strike. Perhaps the other prisoners just want to watch a show.

"Ohh. Did I hurt your feelings, baby? Want me to rock you to bed at night?"

"Shut up, you bitch!"

"Name calling! Very original. Want to point your gun at me to make your dick bigger?"

The prisoners start to respond as Selina throws a sick burn. Now the captor's really agitated. He points the gun at her head and then the man behind him whacks him in the back of his head with a rock, distracting him for long enough as Selina grabs her whip and wraps it around the captor's neck. She grabs the ends of her whip as she pulls upwards, tightening the whip against the man's throat, puncturing his skin with the bladed edges. Making it worse for him as she presses her boot down on his back, applying extra pressure.

The captor's muffled cries prompts the husband to tell the Feline Thief to stop so he can stay there on the ground, and die like he should. Selina puts her whip back onto her belt and helps the wife up to her feet, only for something to startle the crowd. Killer Croc.

His roar causes people to scatter as he charges through the family's house and almost eats the husband, but Selina pushes him aside as she backflips out of the way of the monster. Killer Croc growls. "Hi Waylon. How are you still alive?"

"They cleaned the extinguisher fluid out of my system."

He doesn't say much else as he charges towards her again, and before she has a chance to be afraid, she hears something else in the distance. Fighter Jets. They soar over the skyline, juking around the anti-air missiles set up around the city. Troops exiting out of ships and running on land as they start getting attacked by convicts and other soldiers. The soldiers try to counter the convicts without lethal force, and with a great deal of success.

Then a Bane soldier jumps off a building, juices up, and hits the ground with a loud crash, breaking through the pavement. The brute rushes towards some of the soldiers as they turn off their safety, firing at the behemoth. The bullets bounce off him as they get pummeled into the ground, breezing through them.

The soldiers know they're just wasting bullets, but then one of them shouts "GRENADE!"

They all disperse and put masks on as the man that shouted tosses a gas grenade. The Bane soldier starts to slow down, staggering, and then eventually goes down to his knees, coughing heavily. "What the hell does it take to take this guy down?"

But finally, he falls down in defeat. "Target down!" One shouts.

Then another one shouts in fear. "RPG!"

They look up where the soldier points and they get blasted. On multiple areas of the city, more soldiers keep coming into the city as Selina watches in horror. Killer Croc has abandoned Catwoman and is now climbing buildings as he leaps up to attack the Fighter jets, trying to break into their cockpits. The convicts and the soldiers try to attack the troops, leaving Selina out to fend for herself. She tells the family to hide somewhere safe, if there is anywhere safe now, and stay there.

Her leg got banged up pretty bad tussling with Croc earlier, so she rips off some fabric on her arm and tries to wrap a tourniquet since she's not distracted now. The blood dripping from her leg has gotten worse now and she needs to find somewhere safe herself.

She enters a random building and closes the door. The sounds of missiles, screams, and gunfire muffled behind the door. A soldier is thrown at the door with a loud thud, denting the door. The loud sound makes Selina jump, swearing under her breath.

She hears some shouting from behind. Soldiers. Selina throws down some caltrops near the corner of the hallway as soldiers collapse to the ground, grunting as Selina grabs one of their guns and shoots them both in the head, putting it in her belt for later use. She thinks about taking their clothes and wearing it as a disguise, but it'll never fit. And everyone is male here.

She opens a door to another room and she hears sounds of construction and shouting. Sounds like they're working with metal. She hears a lot of people in this giant room and she makes sure to stray away from an encounter.

She still hears some of the chaos above ground. Every now and then she'll feel a light tremor. She looks over a railing and sees soldiers working on a giant structure of some sort. Her heart sinks as she hears someone say bomb.

Selina's eyes widen as she looks at the construction of a massive bomb. Then she hears a loud bang, halting the progress and silencing the giant room of noise. "Never underestimate your enemy!"

Bane, she thinks. Bane sounds mildly agitated. "The CCTV station is compromised. Regain control! And if you fail,"

Bane's voice grows ominous, "then use your gun and shoot yourself."

"Y-y-yes sir." A weak soldier responds.

The soldiers head out of the building and the cacophony of noise resumes as Selina makes her escape, knowing that Bane's men are on their way towards her. She's then shot in the back of her leg. Her bad leg. She collapses to the ground in a cry of pain. "Don't shoot!" A soldier shouts.

She limps towards the door, pushing it open as she thrusts her body weight against it. She leans against the wall and trudges as fast as she can back to the surface. She manages to escape but a convict shoots her in the head, bleeding out on the pavement.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

"What the hell!?" Jim shouts as he sees Selina walking into the Batcave, looking at her dead body on the gurney.

"How are you—" Barbara shouts, shocked.

Selina puts her hands up defensively. "It's a long story." She starts. "How'd you find my body?"

"I've been monitoring the CCTV cameras around the city and I brought you back." Barbara answers. "How'd you get into the Batcave?"

"I've been around Bruce long enough." Selina replies, smirking.

Jim lowers his gun and asks her, "What are you doing here?"

Selina puts her hands on her hips and answers. "I was about to hide from all the chaos in the city when I saw the Batmobile. So, I followed it. Is he really…?"

Selina stops as she waits for an answer. When she doesn't have one, she assumes he really is dead. She leans over a railing, staring into a deep abyss, trying to keep herself together. "He's dead?" She comments, repeating what she already knows, but she can't believe it.

She shakes her head, shocked. "I thought nothing could kill him." Her voice cracks at the end of her sentence.

"Me too." Jim says as he gets out a cigar.

"Did you really love him?" Barbara asks.

Selina wipes away a tear before it falls from her eyes, trying not to appear weak. She takes a deep breath and a long pause before she answers. "I did."

"I'm sorry." Barbara replies, giving her condolences.

Selina shuts her eyes as she tries to keep the tears from falling, answering. "Me too."

"How are you alive?" Barbara asks.

Selina tries to pull herself together as she wipes away some tears and looks at Barbara, composing herself. "Well," She starts.

She zips her suit down a little to show a cat-shaped diamond etched to her chest. Barbara and Jim are awestruck. "I got this at an auction. They said it came from Khandaq. They called it the Amulet of the Sphinx."

"Khandaq?" Jim questions.

"Some Egyptian place." She remarks nonchalantly.

She sighs and asks, "What are we supposed to do about Bane?"

Barbara turns to the computer as she opens up the CCTV cameras. "We've tracked down some soldiers carrying ammunition to one of their bases at the pier. Some more in Chinatown. And some prisoners have broken into a hospital."

"Are those CCTV cameras?" Selina asks.

"Yeah, why?" Barbara asks as she turns back to face Selina.

"Cuz when everything went to shit, I went to a place to hide and ended up in one of Bane's bases. They're planning to take back the surveillance feed." Selina answers, still upset about Batman being dead.

"Thought they would." Jim comments, shaking his head. "Bet this time they're gonna have it locked down hard."

"And I saw a bomb." Selina adds in a quieter voice, worried.

Barbara scoffs and covers her face with her hands. She runs her hands through her hair as she displays a face of utmost fear. Jim puts the cigar back into his mouth and puffs some smoke, admitting a terrible truth. "I don't think we can do this."

Selina and Barbara don't disagree as they hang their heads in shame. "I don't know what we're thinking." Barbara comments, repeating her worry about this whole situation. "Batman, he—"

She starts off, taking a moment to finish her sentence. "He never gave up, but—"

Her voice trails off, unable to finish. "Is this how it ends?" Selina asks, knowing she knows the answer.

Silence persists between the three for a good while before Selina breaks the quiet. "It doesn't have to." Her voice scared, but she tries to stay strong.

Jim and Barbara look at Selina, puzzled, but waiting to hear more. "Batman watched his parents die right in front of him, but he never gave up. He's been through everything, and he kept fighting back."

Selina takes a moment to contemplate her next words "He wouldn't want us to quit."

Before anyone says anything, the Batcomputer's screen goes from the CCTV cameras to black. The three turn to the computer and Jim is the first to speak. "Oh crap."

Barbara tried to get the computer back on, but it's no good. "I think they hacked this computer." She says, frazzled.

A loud bang sounds behind the door and the three know exactly what's going on. They're going to break in. "What'd we do?!" Selina shouts, trying not to panic.

Nightwing, still on the gurney, tries to sit up and says, "I'll hold them off!"

"No! We gotta get out of here!" Barbara shouts back.

"Elevator!" Dick shouts.

Barbara rushes towards him, trying to carry him as Jim helps. Barbara directs Selina towards the elevator as she is occupied. The door starts to show signs of breaking, and fast. Selina activates the elevator as the car shoots down to their level.

The door bursts open and Jim tells Selina to carry Dick as he starts firing his gun at the intruders. "GO!" Jim shouts.

He gets shot in the arm and then Barbara yanks him back into the car and the door closes, ascending to ground level. Gordon puts a hand over his bullet wound, wincing.

As they reach ground level, they open the elevator car to a wall of debris. Selina pushes away the ashen debris and the group are met with something terrible at the other end. Soldiers. Guns pointed towards them, ready to fire.

They freeze in their tracks as one of the soldiers whispers into their comms. "We got em."

They are faced with no choice but to surrender. "Affirmative." The same soldier answers back as he orders the others to get ready to fire.

As soon as the four are ready to accept their fate, gunfire sounds nearby. The soldiers turn to the direction of the sound and one of them is shot in the head.

The soldiers start firing and then Jim fires bullets of his own at one of the soldiers' arms, disabling his arm, unable to hold a machine gun properly. He reaches for his pistol but Jim fires first, aiming for the head. The last soldier is hit with Batgirl's Batarang in the arm, then the mysterious hero leaps forward, tackling the attacker and aggressively beats his face in. He stands up, fists dripping a small amount of blood. He pulls back his hood and reveals himself as Jason.

"Jason?!" Barbara blurts out, thinking he was dead.

"I heard their comms." Jason explains himself. "I made it as fast as I could."

The group breathe a sigh of relief as Jason makes his way towards them, delivering some dark news. "Don't relax just yet. They blew up all the Batcaves."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Jim and the crew take refuge in a building that was looted and halfway burnt down, hoping this will be a sufficient hiding spot. Or a base of operations.

The team starts to feel exhausted and malnourished, and they can't just walk out to get some supplies without getting shot down. Jason reports that he hears the Militia talking through a radio channel about a traitor in their ranks, and that everyone performing tasks must be verified or put down immediately. Jason and Barbara have ambushed some soldiers and taken their outfits for Jim and Dick to wear.

Dick has started to regain more strength back, but he needs to know what to do before he does anything. In the morning, they'll come up with their next choice of action, calling it in for the night while one of them keeps watch.

Jason decides to stay up so he can listen in on the comms, and be ready to fight. He examines his gun in the dim light of the building, watching the moonlight dance around the metal. He makes sure it's fully loaded and his senses are sharp. He listens to occasional chatter between the Militia and looks at his team sleeping. He knows they'll ask him how he's alive, but he can't tell them. He could never bring himself to say it. In the darkest pit of his mind, something screams in hatred. Something he can never silence. And maybe he doesn't want to.

Moments pass by until a soldier speaks into the comms again. "Do you think the traitor is listening in on our comms?"

"Possibly. Keep essential chatter to a minimum."

"What about another radio channel?"

"Negative. Personnel are occupied and we can't risk an unknown suspect to join the channel."

"Copy that."

Jason scoffs under his breath and starts to feel some exhaustion set in but he forces himself to stay awake and stay alert. His mind goes to the soldiers again, and the ones that have this steroid and become almost invincible. He then remembers what he's wearing and checks his pockets for anything in particular. In one of his many pockets, one of his chest pockets has a vial about the size of his thumb. He sees lettering on the side of the vial but can't quite make it out in the dark. He turns on his flashlight and the lettering reads: STAGG.

Stagg… Jason thinks. Pharmaceutical company? Performance enhancement?

He puts it back into his chest pocket for later and continues his lookout. He's just now noticed how quiet the night is. No gunfire. No explosions. Maybe the Militia kidnapped some of the military that were sent in to stop this. And some of the prisoners are probably busy elsewhere.

After a while, the quiet starts to get to Jason so he gets out a pocket knife and slides his finger along the knob on the side, popping out the blade. Repeating the process. Hours later, Jason's exhaustion starts to set in, even more this time. He's alerted by Batgirl and he almost slits her throat.

Batgirl panics for a short second and Jason retracts the blade. He puts it back into his pocket and Barbara says it's her turn to lookout now. Jason rubs his eyes lethargically, groaning. "What time is it?"

"Four forty-five."

Jason nods his head in agreement and lays down, resting his eyes. In the morning, the team sit around, bouncing around ideas for their next move. Jason says he'll look into the Venom mystery. Barbara tells him one of the locations they found for the Venom supply before they lost CCTV access. Jim and Dick will investigate the ammo supply. Barbara and Selina go to look into communications. Jason leaves behind a spray painted Batsymbol along the side of the building the group chose as a makeshift base. Jason tosses aside the spray canister and revels in the red Batsymbol, almost dripping blood. With a hole where the heart should be.

Everyone is given walkie talkies, and they go on their way. Jason pulls up his hood so he can remain discreet, and minds his own business.

He ends up at a North Refrigeration building and sees guards at the entrance. He flashes his ID to the guards and steps inside. He radios in and delivers an update, "I'm inside the base. What's everyone else's status?"

Jim whispers back, "Getting a little caught up here. We're being evaluated."

"Barbara?" Jason asks.

"We're trying our best." Barbara responds.

Jason puts his comms device back into his pocket and and stays quiet. Not difficult when there's conversations going on left and right. He wanders around the base, descending some stairs and sees some soldiers standing around, watching someone buff themselves up with some Venom.

The four vials beside the soldier suggest that he is overdosing, testing how much they can take. The soldier has grown twice the size of a normal man that would take this drug. The man is appearing to be in pain, judging by his distress. He's screaming at the top of his lungs, falling on his hands and knees as his muscles continue to expand. Saliva drips down his lips and his eyes shut tight. His hands gripping the ground, starting to dig into the concrete. His hands shaking. His head growing in size. Then his body starts to shake and a popping sound can be heard.

Bits of teeth start to crumble beneath the hulking man. The soldiers watching start to step away from the behemoth, looking at each other, panicking. "What are we gonna do?" One of them shouts.

The hulking soldier's misery comes to an end as he collapses with a loud thud. The soldiers stay silent for a moment, and so does Jason. They wait around for any unexpected after effects. Finally the building is quiet. When nothing happens, a soldier approaches the body and checks his pulse. "Is he dead?" Someone asks.

"I don't know." The soldier responds.

"What's that mean?"

"All I feel is muscle."

He gets out a device and reads the vitals, coming to a conclusion that he, indeed, is dead. "He's dead."

Silence falls over the premises once more and then the soldier kneeling over the unconscious body reveals another truth. "His bone structure couldn't handle the added weight."

Jason turns on his detective vision to see what might be the cause for this soldier's death, even if it was deserved in his eyes. Jason runs into an issue though: No Batcomputer. No Vision. Damn it. Jason thinks.

Jason then decides to move elsewhere in the complex and opens a door to a long hallway. He sees two guards talking about something and Jason ignores them. He opens a door to a storage room and sees large cardboard boxes.

He opens a box and sees Venom canisters inside. Bigger than he is. He looks at them in fright, looking around to see the number of boxes around the room. Around twenty of them. Some smaller boxes on top of some of them. He opens one up to see smaller canisters. Are the smaller ones for the soldiers? And the bigger ones for Bane?

Jason thinks back to the soldier who died because of an overdose. Bane is hoarding it all. Jason thinks. But how is he not dead yet?

All of a sudden, someone opens the door and asks him, confused. "Hey, what are you doing in here?"

Jason turns around, trying to remain inconspicuous. "Just admiring your Venom stash."

Jason knows this isn't a good excuse, and hates himself for it. "Who are you?" The soldier asks, a little more strict.

Jason grips his knife and, with deadly accuracy, throws it at the soldier's throat. But to Jason's disbelief, the soldier catches it.

The man flips the knife and rubs his thumb along the bladed edge and smirks. "You really are dumb, aren't you?"

Jason clenches his fist tightly and they start to go at it. Jason wants to make it short to avoid too much conflict, so he dodges a knife attack, twists his wrist until it pops, grabs the blade as it falls and slits his throat, planting it in for good measure.

He watches the man fall unconscious, and then cleans the knife of the blood on the soldier's glove. He grabs the dead body and hides it behind some boxes, planting a motion detection mine at the entrance.

He heads further down the hallway and at the end of it, he finds a room with soldiers, standing in place, looking at another soldier, giving a presentation. "We don't have time or space to debrief everyone at once in one room, so we have a broadcast going for anyone curious about how this Venom works for anyone that still doesn't know, and how to be more aware."

Score. Jason thinks. He cracks a smile as he hides from detection, listening in to the presentation. The presenter continues, "Now, as you know, Venom is a highly potent strength enhancement drug for a brief time. In this amplified state, you will be bulletproof, extremely durable, and possess incredible strength. The downside? Decreased cognitive abilities during this state, and after, the user will experience an exhaustion period for a short time, due to the over amplification of the human physique and elevated adrenaline. You will be extremely vulnerable, so use this wisely."

The presenter clears his throat and takes a sip of water. Jason is intrigued. Thankfully he hasn't used it yet. "Now, in this state, you won't be as invincible as you may believe. Stay away from fumes. Wear a mask at all times. One of our men was taken down after being exposed to tear gas. He deserved what he got. Second, in this state, you will be inclined to smash anything around you. Well trained individuals will still have control over their actions, but take caution. Exerting yourself will tire you out quicker."

Jackpot. Jason thinks with a smile. One of the soldiers shouts, "Who made this stuff?"

"Michael Dondrick, but Stagg Enterprises stole his idea and plastered their logo on it."

"I'd have been pissed!" Someone shouts.

Jason thinks he's heard enough for now and makes his way to the exit, hoping the others have had similar luck. And that this brings them one step closer to stopping Bane.


End file.
